Soul in a car (IMO, natch) comes directly from the racing heritage of its manufacturer. Uniqueness is not necessary, although it often follows that cars with soul are uncommon because they're often not that easy to live with.

Because of its involvement in F1 since the 1960s and CART in the 1990s Honda has bragging rights in this area approaching a par with Mercedes, Jaguar, and BMW. Mazda's racing credentials are much more modest (although I'm an admirer of both the Miata and RX-7).

Honda certainly does build appliances (some of which are cars), and I'm not suggesting that all Hondas have soul. But given their heritage and expertise, when Honda sets out to build a sports car they know exactly how to do it, including the intangibles. Believe me, this car has soul to spare.

Svann: suggest to your friend that she should actually go drive an S2000 rather than repeating the tired prejudices of others. That "soulless appliance" crap is the same thinking that got the British motorcycle industry where it is today.

 

I too, sold a Miata in order to get the S. I loved the little Mazda, and I thought that it handled like a dream, still do. I loved to drive it home through the curves along Lost Creek Boulevard. But the Honda is something else. Soul, yeah, it's got plenty of it. And although I never push it even close to it's limits on the street, it out hustles my old Miata to shame. Tailhappy; just makes those tight little turns even more fun. And that's the point, this car is fun.

 

I'm with Tox and Black7xxx. Define elitest. If it's that we had $35k+ burning a hole in our pockets and wanted a new toy, maybe a few of us, but not many. If it's that we scrimped and saved ever since seeing the first reviews, and had the resources when one was available, than I'm an elitest and proud of it.

 

So far, I've met 6 S2000 owners, and I haven't detected a single eltist bone in any of their bodies.

 

The words "Soul" and "Character" are the last lines of defense for owners of brands that fall short of the staggering performance that is provided by the Japanese brands. It is funny that now it is being used BY owners of a Japanese brand to deride Honda. Amazing.

It used to be owners of British marques that tossed these words around, usually to defend such things as oil pools in their garage and electrics that didn't work or body panels that were way off tolerance. Italian marque lovers used these words to defend the quirks and unreliability of those vehicles.

Well I have news for all of them. The S2000 has Heritage second to none, Soul by the buckets full in the form of a 9000 RPM screamer under the hood and more character than anything at even double the price. It has redefined these words so they are used in only the positive sense. This is no oil leaking garage queen.

This is the real deal and a long way from a "Sterile appliance".

 

Hang in there Rick:

You haven't met me yet!!

Laird

 

Hey Jay,

We talked about this before and I don't think there is any shame in the way you are getting the car. I think you're just an extremely lucky guy with great parents.

Just enjoy the car when you get it. Hope the weather is nice enough for you to take it out once you get home.


[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jay Li:
[B]I don't even have my car yet, and even though I'm attaining the car in a method lots of people might look down on, I feel very much a part of it.

 

The S2000 is OF COURSE a soulless appliance. It's a car. It's a collection of tens of thousands of individual metal and plastic pieces, fastened and hammered and stamped and glued and welded and pounded into the shape and mechanical identity known as an automobile.

Anyone who thinks that these ten thousand pieces somehow form some synergy of being-- that they combine to ignite a spark of consciousness, or soul--is either a poet or a child.

It's what happens to me when I'm driving the car and the temperature is just right and the sunset is just right and the girl sitting next to me is smiling at me just right... it's THOSE things that bring out the wonder of this little Honda. The pastel magic light warms my face and the wind, streaming around the A-pillars and into my ears, whispers to me that it's not the car's soul--it's MY soul that is alive and well.

Miata owners clued into this realization a decade ago. Please allow us new Honda owners the childlike wonder of discovering our souls. If, in our adolescence, we sometimes sound elitist or dumbstruck, forgive us. You were young once, too. And with these cars, you'll be young again tomorrow.

I'm going for a ride.

 

Well-said, George! In your light I would add that the Honda "Type Rs", NSXs and S2000s tickle the soul in a similar manner as does the Lotus Elise, Mazda Miata, certain M-badged BMWs, Porsche 911s and that Maranello and Sant Agata-Bolognese-based Italian car products. Yes, Honda's are not as passionate - in general. But please recall that that term "passionate" translates into unforgiving, selfish and single-purposed. Now I personally like and desire that in this stage of my life and the ITR offers it in the shades. The S2000 a little less so, but that, too, makes it all the more desirable.

My advice: Do not overly concern yourselves with other's opinions of your car - or anything else for that matter. We all have biases [we are all unique solutions to the same concept or idea] and therefore have differing ideas. That's what makes planet Earth neat in my eyes. Enjoy your souless cars. May your cars excite your inner being.

Thanks again, George.

 

While you are correct in a literal sense that no inanimate object can have "a soul" I contend that it can have "soul" as in "the quality that arouses emotion and sentiment".

A work of art by a passionate artist be it music, painting, sculpture, or even industrial design is a manifestation of that passion. A Chrysler K car that is designed as much by accountants and committees as it is by engineers does not have soul. The S2000 is primarily one man's vision and it is his dream distilled into aluminum and steel.

To look at a great automobile (or any great work of Man) is to see someone's dream. Ideally nothing gets in the way between the dream and the reality and the less compromise the more soulful the creation. If the bean counters and focus groups get a hold of the dream generally the result is a nightmare. For the S2000 to survive the process with the designer's dream intact is a testament to what this car means to Honda.

So while it may be true that no material object can have a soul they certainly can reflect the soul of it's creator. The fewer corporate suits involved with it the clearer the reflection will be.

"...All of the houses, and all of the cars, were once just a dream in sombody's head..."
Peter Gabriel